He interviewed a part of the war machine who, no surprise, wants you to know the Islamic State has done more damage.

Why?

Because Craig Whiteside is an idiot, a liar or a whore.

He can pick which one.

It doesn't matter because he doesn't know what he's talking about.

[Joel Wing King Dumb Ass]: 2. A conventional
wisdom has formed about how the Islamic State was able to rebuild itself after
its nadir in 2008. Most of that argument centers on Syria providing a rebirth
for the group, and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s autocratic politics. You’ve
written those were important, but there was more to the story. What else do you
think was pivotal for the group’s re-emergence?

[Idiot/Liar/Whore Craig Whiteside:] We tend to rely on these simplistic narratives to explain complex
events like the resurgence of the IS. Not to defend the indefensible, but I
don’t think you can say that Maliki’s autocratic politics – as
counterproductive as they were - can physically force someone to join a
horrific organization like the Islamic State. The Sunnis know exactly who IS is
and what they are capable of doing. I mean, if you looked at who has harmed the
Sunni people the most since 2008, it would easily be the Islamic State
movement, which has killed thousands of Sunnis in its return to power (and
advertised this fact in real time on jihadist websites by the way). So I don’t
see the IS resurgence simply as a result of some grievance narrative against
Maliki, or from the very real advantages the IS movement did see from their
investment and leverage of the chaos in Syria to recruit, upgrade weapons, and
secure additional funding from extortion and oil sales. It is more complex than
that.

A conventional wisdom?

Rebirth from 2008?

Even in the administration, there is not agreement that you can trace the Islamic State back to 2008 in Iraq. Let alone prior.

Even in the Pentagon, there is disagreement on that.

And I can quote Secretary of Defense Ash Carter on that.

And as for "some grievance narrative against Maliki"?

What a bunch of cheap liars.

The murders carried out by Nouri al-Maliki will continue to emerge.

The Sunnis were targeted.

Even removing the ethnic cleansing -- which Nouri carried out with the US government's help -- pre-2008 leaves you with a lot of dead.

And that's before we get to the other issues.

The Islamic State did not run off a Sunni politician. Tareq al-Hashemi was run off by Nouri al-Maliki.

It was Nouri who staged a dawn raid on a Sunni politician's home, after all.

It was Nouri who tortured peaceful protesters.

Craig, don't remember you saying a damn word when that took place but, of course, you wouldn't.

And it's cute how after so many Sunnis have spoken to the press, Captain Blowhard knows better than the Sunni people.

Now his group is in a de facto alliance with al-Qaida's
successor, ISIS. Their thinking is similar. They fight alongside each
other. Dabbash's views are typical of a broad spectrum of Sunnis in Iraq
- Islamist, tribes, one-time supporters of Saddam Hussein. They feel
victimized by Iraq's Shiite-led government, and many fight against the
Shiite-dominated army, either joining ISIS or allying with them, even if
they find the group extreme.

While some of his Sunni kinsmen in Anbar province set about working with Shiite militias on a strategy to oust Islamic State, Emad al-Jumaili was making a very different kind of plan.The tribal elder was busy preparing to guard his home and family from those same militias.

“I
have always said I would much prefer to be killed by a Sunni terrorist
organization than a Shiite terrorist organization,” said Mr. Jumaili.

The worshipers and other Sunnis interviewed in Baghdad said they have
little affinity for the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State that routed
Iraqi forces last month and declared a “caliphate” across a vast swath
of the country.But as the militants take aim at Iraq’s Shiite-dominated
government, these educated, professional Sunnis leave no doubt that
their sympathies lie with the insurgents.

“It’s a
revolution against oppression,” Moussa said. “We believe there will be a
zero hour here in Baghdad soon. The Sunnis have nothing to lose.”

We could do this all day.

But what do Sunni Iraqis know about themselves, right?

So much better to have their own words 'corrected' by Captain Blowhard.

And they are well known -- except to blow hards like Joel Wing and Captain Big Mouth.

Joel Wing is a danger to himself and others.

He's infamous for promoting a whack job whose public meltdown included that the CIA and others were following him around, harassing him at public libraries, blah blah blah crazy insane.

Joel is also infamous for insisting that KRG President Massoud Barzani was powerless and his rule over -- those are e-mails Jim and I continue to laugh about to this day, Joel -- back in 2011.

In other words, where there is wrong, there is Joel Wing.

Count on it, over and over again.

Thanks for playing, Joel. It's always fun to watch you make an ass out of yourself.

By the way, from time to time Joel Wing thinks we can be friends. He never gets that I wouldn't give a damn about him, wouldn't even slam him, if he didn't have his long, long history of attacking the Sunnis.

You got a big mouth, I'm happy to seeYour foot is firmly entrenched where a molar should beIf you talk much louder you could get an awardFrom the federal communications boardDon't be cruelBe a thing -- sweet thing, as a ruleDon't be sadI left you in the street, you're pre-fabI had to get away.Don't go away sadDon't go pre-fabDon't go be badDon't go away madJust go away, go away

This morning, we noted:Voting this month on a new national anthem?That's a trifle.That's something you can maybe do if you're addressing the serious issues.But when you're ignoring the national guard prospect that you've agreed
to form but done nothing on, when you're ignoring working towards
political solutions and when you're working against the Constitution
(such as the move to defy the Constitution on the death penalty by
giving the power to decide executions to the Minister of Justice when
the Constitution places that authorization solely in the hands of the
presidency council), when you still can't pay the KRG their part of the
national budget, you really don't have time to waste or dick around on
issues like the national anthem.

Now All Iraq News reports that (Shi'ite) National Alliance MP Muhammad Naji is stating that the national guard bill will be voted on . . . "next legislative term."

If that delay alone isn't disgusting enough, he adds, "we will approve on condition
that it is not related to the local provinces."

But that's exactly what it's about -- the local provinces.

The plan US President Barack Obama has been arguing for since Summer 2014 is for local forces. The National Guard would be a group where the KRG forces took care of the KRG, Sunni forces took care of predominately Sunni localities and the Shi'ite forces took care of the rest.

The entire basis of the plan is "local provinces."

So what the politician is really saying is: "We ignored it for months -- as we took US tax dollars and utilized US military support -- and now we've kicked it back to the next legislative session where we will again ignore it."

Two senior administration officials confirmed to us that U.S.
soldiers and Shiite militia groups are both using the Taqqadum military
base in Anbar, the same Iraqi base where President Obama is sending
an additional 450 U.S. military personnel to help train the local
forces fighting against the Islamic State. Some of the Iran-backed
Shiite militias at the base have killed American soldiers in the past.Some inside the Obama administration fear that sharing the base puts
U.S. soldiers at risk. The U.S. intelligence community has reported back
to Washington that representatives of some of the more extreme militias
have been spying on U.S. operations at Taqqadum, one senior
administration official told us. That could be calamitous if the fragile
relationship between the U.S. military and the Shiite militias comes
apart and Iran-backed forces decide to again target U.S. troops.

The report was noted in today's US State Dept press briefing moderated by John Kirby.

QUESTION: On Iraq, there are reports
talking about the Taqaddum base that – which is considered to be used
for the 45 percent – for the 450 advisors – U.S. advisors to be
positioned there. So it’s – there are reports talking about that this is
also shared by the Shia militias which is considered as Iranian-backed
Shia militias. And there are reports that are talking about that these
militias are spying on the U.S. advisors or the other personnels there.
Do you have any response for that, or do you have any concerns if the
Shia militia’s also positioned in this base?MR KIRBY: I haven’t seen the reports. I don’t know to what
degree Shia militia members are on al-Taqaddum and the base or where
they are. I mean, I would refer you to the Defense Department for that
kind of thing. That’s certainly not something that we would speak to
here at the State Department.QUESTION: But in any case like that, if you positioned these
advisors, is that going to be something – will be used by U.S. advisors
or other Iraqi forces?MR KIRBY: Again, you’re asking questions that are much better
put to the Defense Department. What we’ve said is that all the forces
operating against ISIL inside Iraq need to be under the command and
control of Prime Minister Abadi and the Iraqi Government. Prime Minister
Abadi has made that very, very clear that that’s his expectation. As
for the particulars of who’s on what base and how close they are, I
think you just – I’d have to refer you to the Defense Department.QUESTION: And lastly, I wanted --MR KIRBY: I wasn’t trying to do an Abbott and Costello thing there either.QUESTION: Last one on Iraq? One more?MR KIRBY: Yeah.QUESTION: The WikiLeaks document talking about the Iraqi
officials and Iraqi – some of the Iraq Sunni politicians and also
political parties got fund from the Saudi Arabia. Do you think this is
going to impact – have a negative impact on the Iraq and Saudi
relations? I mean, including also U.S. in the past encouraged the –
promoting the relations between Iraq and Saudi and also even opening the
embassy of Saudi Arabia in Baghdad – one of the good steps seen by the
State Department as a good step of relations between Iraq. So do you
think these kind of documents revealed will have a negative impact on
that relation?MR KIRBY: We’ve made it pretty clear policy that we’re not
going to talk about the content of leaked documents, so just not going
to touch that.Abigail.QUESTION: State Department issued – or updated a travel
warning today warning U.S. citizens from going and joining the conflict
in Iraq. Just wondering, as the last one was at the end of April and
there’s usually a greater length of time, is there any new concern
regarding U.S. citizens traveling to Iraq to join the conflict?MR KIRBY: I wouldn’t read too much into the timing of this
particular travel warning. As you know, they’re routinely reviewed. Now
they’re always on a six-month thing, but they can be reviewed and
updated outside the six-month window, and that was the case with this
one. But you’re right, it did specifically talk about Americans going to
join the conflict, and I think that that’s an issue that we have been
continuing to watch and to be concerned about. And I think it just
follows – makes good sense to – as we looked at this travel warning to
update it.But it wasn’t driven by – and I wouldn’t want to leave you with the
idea that it was driven by a specific case or a specific incident or a
specific terrorist in mind or anything like that. The flow of foreign
fighters, even those from the United States into the fight, remains a
significant concern for the coalition. As I’ve said before, more than 30
nations have taken administrative and legal action to try to stem that
flow. The United States is one of those nations that’s trying to do
that, and I think this travel warning simply follows on just good,
prudent thinking about a tough problem.QUESTION: John, I have a quick question on Mosul. Do you have
an update about the situation in Mosul? Because it’s – Kurdish
politicians are arguing that ISIL is losing ground within Mosul because
of some logistical problems.MR KIRBY: Yeah, I --QUESTION: Do you agree with them?MR KIRBY: Yeah, when I took off the uniform, I stopped doing battlefield updates.QUESTION: (Laughter.)

MR KIRBY: You’re going to have to go to the Defense Department.

Away from the chuckles, the news is not good for Iraq. Action On Armed Violence has released the results of their latest study
which finds civilian deaths and injuries on the rise throughout the
world with Iraq topping the list with 10,735 civilian casualties in
2014.

In today's violence, Xinhua reports, "A total of 25 people were killed and 28 wounded on
Monday in air strikes, clashes with the Islamic State (IS) militants and
violent attacks across Iraq, security sources said."

Isaiah's The World Today Just Nuts "Tarsands" went up Sunday and new content at Third:

Lastly, the Feminist Majority Foundation is attempting to halt a 'trade' pact that promises little for the people but a great deal for corporations that want to trample on the environment, workers rights, human rights and much more:

Yes, I want to sign the petition to stop Fast Track and the Trans Pacific Partnership.

The
TPP is no deal for women. It hurts women workers and undermines women’s
rights and human rights, while also threatening environmental
regulations, availability of affordable medicines, food safety, and
more. That’s why over 2,000 organizations, including the Feminist
Majority, AFL-CIO, National Organization for Women, NAACP, People for
the American Way, Pride at Work, and the Sierra Club, have opposed
legislation to fast track the TPP.

About Me

We do not open attachments. Stop e-mailing them. Threats and abusive e-mail are not covered by any privacy rule. This isn't to the reporters at a certain paper (keep 'em coming, they are funny). This is for the likes of failed comics who think they can threaten via e-mails and then whine, "E-mails are supposed to be private." E-mail threats will be turned over to the FBI and they will be noted here with the names and anything I feel like quoting.
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